Department for International Development

Lebanon: Refugees

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees figures showing that Lebanon is the country with the highest per capita concentration of refugees worldwide, what priority they give to providing refugee aid to Lebanon.

lord bates: Lebanon has shown enormous generosity in hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees – the highest concentrations per capita anywhere in the world. Building the resilience of the regional countries affected by the Syrian crisis has been, and continues to be, a top priority for the UK. The UK has led the international community in mobilising support for Syrian refugees, including by co-hosting pledging conferences in London (2016) and Brussels (2017). The UK has provided £466 million to support Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the Lebanese host communities. We remain at the forefront of delivering on pledges, having already allocated 97% of money pledged for 2017.

Gaza: Economic Situation

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the action necessary to reverse the process of de-development in Gaza.

lord bates: There is an urgent need to address the terrible situation in Gaza. The UN recently reported that that the water, economic and health situation has deteriorated even faster than feared in the 2012 assessment that predicted that Gaza would be unliveable not be fit to live in by 2020. The Rt Hon Alistair Burt, Minister of State for International Development, visited Gaza on 21 August and saw the extent of this first hand. Improvements in infrastructure, employment, energy and water are the priorities essential to improve living conditions. The UK will continue to urge all the parties to prioritise progress towards reaching a durable solution for Gaza and to take the necessary practical steps to improve conditions.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what projection they have made of the percentage of people in Gaza who will need humanitarian aid in 2018; and how that aid will be delivered.

lord bates: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (UN OCHA) 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) assessed that 58% (1.1 million out of 1.9 million) of Gaza’s population are acutely vulnerable and in need of humanitarian assistance in 2017. A new 2018 HRP will be published later this year. International humanitarian aid for Gaza is delivered by a range of UN agencies and NGOs, coordinated by UN OCHA. The UK will support approximately 1 million Gazans by providing clean water, rehabilitating sanitation facilities and promoting hygiene standards to stop the spread of disease through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). UK funding is also supporting basic service delivery, humanitarian access, enabling reconstruction efforts and investing in job creation.

Antigua and Barbuda: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

lord howell of guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the eligibility of Antigua and Barbuda to receive aid and assistance following the recent hurricane damage.

lord bates: Antigua and Barbuda is eligible to receive Official Development Assistance (ODA). The island of Barbuda, with a population of 1,800 persons, was recently devastated by Hurricane Irma and the UK is providing humanitarian assistance, through the Red Cross and the Pan American Health Organisation, to the affected population. We have also released £14 million, to Antigua and Barbuda, for climate-resilient infrastructure projects to help the islands build back better and stronger. DFID is awaiting the World Bank’s post disaster needs assessment and will review future needs accordingly, in collaboration with other donors. All of this UK support will be classified as ODA.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Groceries Code Adjudicator

baroness byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they propose to take following their review into the role and remit of the Grocery Code Adjudicator published on 19 July.

lord henley: The Review found that the Adjudicator is making effective use of her statutory powers and is effectively enforcing the Groceries Code through collaborative working with the large retailers. The Government will continue to support the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) in her work. The Review also found that some direct suppliers are reluctant to raise legitimate grievances with the GCA due to a fear of commercial consequences. The Government will agree a strategic goal for the GCA to address this issue. The Government will also make it clear to retailers designated by the Code that it is not acceptable that direct suppliers face commercial consequences as a result of reporting potential breaches of the Code. We will also work with Trade Associations to help their members understand how the Code works and the role of the GCA and encourage them to raise issues with the GCA and the retailers’ Code Compliance Officers.

Aggregates: Marine Environment

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the amount that marine aggregates contribute to the sand and gravel requirements of England and Wales.

lord henley: Table 5 of the Monthly Statistics of Building Materials and Components published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy shows that in 2016 there were 50,153,000 tonnes of sand and gravel sold in England and Wales, of which 11,770,000 tonnes were marine dredged – which is equivalent to 23%.

Small Businesses

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civil servants in (1) the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and (2) the Department for International Trade, were responsible for small business policy in each year since 2010, broken down by grade.

lord henley: Both the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for International Trade have staff working in a wide range of policy development and delivery activities which support small businesses across the UK. The information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate costs.

Small Business Commissioner

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the WrittenAnswer byLord Prior of Brampton on 19 October (HL1856), how long after the planned launch date of 1 October they expect the Small Business Commissioner complaints scheme to launch; and what marketing activity they are carrying out to ensure thatsmall businesses are aware that complaints dating back to April 2017 may be made retrospectively, once the service has launched.

lord henley: The Small Business Commissioner’s complaints handling service, dependent on secondary legislation, is expected to be launched by the end of the year, subject to the will of Parliament. The service will be supported by an advice website which is also planned to launch at the same time and will provide details on how complaints from small businesses will be dealt with. The Commissioner, Paul Uppal, and his team are in the process of setting up the office and engaging across the business community and with stakeholders to raise awareness of the SBC service.

Work Experience: Minimum Wage

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many successfulprosecutions were made against employers for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage for internshiproles in each year since 2010; and what were the details of those prosecutions.

lord henley: Details of the employers prosecuted for National Minimum Wage offences up to the end of 2016/17 are included in Table 1 below and are also published in Annex C of the 2017 Government Evidence to the Low Pay Commission on compliance and enforcement. HMRC does not have any records of prosecutions in relation to interns. Table 1: NMW Prosecutions, 2007/08 to 2016/17 Name of employerTrading NameAreaOffenceDate1T AgudaRascals Day Nursery LtdWalthamstow31 (5) (a)28/08/20072Torbay Council Torquay31 (5) (b)01/10/20073R SinghPound ManiaNottingham31 (5) (b)30/04/20084David JacksonJackson’s ButchersSheffield31 (1); 31 (2); 31 (3); 31 (4).02/07/20085Pauline SmoutJackson’s ButchersSheffield31 (1); 31 (2); 31 (3); 31 (4)02/07/20086Zaheer IbrahimThe Jewel in the CrownNottingham31 (5) (b)21/07/20087Ahmed YassineThe Pheonix HotelRotherham31 (2); 31 (5) (b)13/02/20098B G Optical Manchester31(1); 31(2); 31(3); 31(4); 31(5)(a); 31(5)(b)23/06/20109Widescope Security London31(1); 31(5)(b)26/02/201310Amanda BarrettAmanda’s Precious Bubbles Day Nursery LtdBirmingham31(1); 31(2)11/05/201611Richard HuntThe Rock Hotel (Weymouth) LtdWeymouth31(5)(a); 31(5)(b)13/05/201612L.UK/Euro (Brighton) Ltd3D TeleconOldham31(1); 31(5)(a)04/08/201613Dida Brothers Car Wash Southampton31(1); 31(2)08/12/2016Source: BEIS/HMRC enforcement data



Evidence and analysis to the Low Pay Commission
(PDF Document, 1.23 MB)

Work Experience: Minimum Wage

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the details of their awareness-raising campaign to promote compliance with National Minimum Wage legislation as itrelates to internships; what assessment they have made of the impact of HMRC's Promote programme on reducingthe number of unpaid internships; and what other action they are taking to reduce the number of unpaid internships.

lord henley: The Government launched a £1.75m communications campaign in January 2016, which aimed to raise awareness among employers and to encourage workers who are entitled to the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage – including interns - to check their pay. The campaign ran across radio, billboards, digital and print media and directed workers to a dedicated campaign website. HMRC works with a broad range of employers, agents and worker groups to support compliance and raise awareness of worker rights through a combination of webinars, targeted mail shots, face to face contact, digital contact and project work with sector specific bodies. As part of their Promote programme, HMRC has written to employers who advertise unpaid internships, reminding them of their obligations to comply with NMW legislation. Earlier this year, Matthew Taylor completed his independent review into the UK’s modern employment practices. The Government will give careful consideration to his recommendation to improve the interpretation of the law and to increase enforcement action relating to unpaid internships. We will respond in full later this year.

Overseas Companies

baroness primarolo: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Nash on 18 September (HL1398), whether they have plans to review the corporate governance of UK-registered companies operating outside the UK, including through subsidiariesand other connected persons.

lord henley: UK-registered companies are subject to UK company law, which includes a statutory requirement under the Companies Act 2006 for medium sized and large companies to produce an annual strategic report. Parent companies that prepare group accounts must produce a consolidated strategic report relating to the undertakings included in the consolidation.In the case of UK-registered quoted companies, the strategic report must include information about the company’s employees, and social, community and human rights issues, including any policies in relation to those matters and the effectiveness of those policies, to the extent necessary to assess the development, performance or position of the company’s business.Additionally, large companies which are public interest entities that employ 500 or more employees must include in the strategic report a non-financial statement containing information on employees and respect for human rights, to the extent necessary for an understanding of the company’s development, performance and position and the impact of its activities.As such, where a UK registered company operates outside of the UK, including through subsidiaries, its strategic report will, to the extent required by the reporting requirement, contain information in relation to its activities abroad.The Government Response to the Corporate Governance Reform green paper consultation, published on 29th August 2017, announced a number of reforms to further strengthen and improve transparency in corporate governance at UK-registered companies, including to introduce secondary legislation requiring companies of a significant size to explain how their directors comply with the existing duty under Section 172 of the Companies Act to have regard to employee and other stakeholder interests.The Government has no other current plans to review the corporate governance of UK-registered companies operating in the UK or overseas.

Comet Group: Insolvency

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the report of the Insolvency Service into the collapse of the retailer Comet has not been published; and whether they will reconsider that decision, in the light of the collapse of Monarch Airlines and the role of Greybull Capital as an investor in both companies.

lord henley: I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my noble Friend Lord Prior of Brampton to Question UIN HL5215

Government Assistance

lord macpherson of earl's court: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they propose to maintain the state aid regime following the UK’s departure from the EU; and if so, how.

lord henley: The Government is aware that the EU negotiating mandate explicitly refers to state aid in the context of any future trade agreement between the EU and UK. This future relationship is subject to negotiation. While the Government cannot speculate on outcomes at this stage, any future regime will be based on the principles of open and fair markets. As my Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister said in Florence the Government believes “it would be a serious mistake to try to beat other countries’ industries by unfairly subsidising one’s own”.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Hong Kong: Police

lord goodlad: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer byLord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 25 October (HL1889), what was their response to the letter from the Royal Hong Kong Police Association to the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mark Field MP, dated 16 October.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Minister for Asia and the Pacific will be replying shortly to the letter from the Royal Hong Kong Police Association which was received on 16 October.